Yeongnam: National: News: Hankyoreh Mobile

Cases of violence and abuse continue in a special type of educational facility under the name ‘Seodang’. The Education Office and the police have investigated, but some point out that the system needs to be improved to prevent a recurrence. On the 31st, the Gyeongnam Police Agency said, “Since incidents of violence and abuse have occurred one after another at Seodang in Hadong-gun, Gyeongsangnam-do, we are investigating these incidents, as well as the registration and registration matters. complaint around the Hadong- Seodang gun. ” The Gyeongnam Provincial Bureau of Education also said: “The school suspended school for a year in Seodang, where the recent incident occurred, and it was decided to investigate the violence of all students residing in Seodang.” ‘Seodang’ is a private academy facility, and it is operated across the country, advocating that it focuses on education of character and etiquette. There are educational programs that run for a short period of time during the holidays, but most Seodang have dormitory accommodation to host long-term students. Parents often send their children because they consider it an alternative school in the countryside, but some students who have caused problems in school life such as violence at school also come to Seodang. The students live in Seodang and attend schools near Seodang. In 2013, the Gyeongnam Provincial Office of Education Hadong Educational Support Office was charged with violating the ‘Law on Establishing and Operating Schools and Extracurricular Teaching’, provided that the Hadong Education Office provided accommodation and education about the character and etiquette to students. , but it was not registered as a school. I am suing. On February 9, 2017, the Supreme Court finally shook hands with the Office of Education, saying: “Even if you do not teach the school curriculum, if you teach knowledge, technology and the arts to students, you must consider it as a subject of record in under the Hakwon Law “. Until the final ruling of the Supreme Court, private company owners could operate the Seodang even if they did not register with the academy, but after the final ruling of the Supreme Court, the Seodang could only be operated after registering with the academy. and comply with the provisions of the Academy Law, such as facilities. However, many Seodang still ignore the Supreme Court ruling or use it as a record. According to the survey results of the Gyeongnam Provincial Education Office, there are 14 Seodang in Hadong-gun, only in Gyeongnam. Among them, only one registered Seodang academy, five were private tutoring schools, and three were reported as youth training facilities and conveniently operated. The remaining five are unlicensed facilities that have not been registered or reported. In addition, even the registered or reported Seodang reports that the facilities where students eat and sleep as a separate residential facility from Seodang, avoiding the administration of the Office of Education. Given this situation, there are countless cases of violence and abuse in Seodang. Some Seodang use corporal punishment as an educational method and some were captured by the authorities after obtaining the consent of their parents. Finally, in 2016, a Seodang operator who assaulted students was sentenced to prison. In May 2018, a female student was sexually assaulted by two male students at the same school at a Seodang in Hadong. At that time, the Gyeongnam Provincial Education Office stopped teaching for a year at this Seodang and supervised the entire Seodang at Hadong. However, it was a one-time offense and fundamentally failed to solve the problem. In February last year, in a dormitory in Hadong, there was a massive assault and abuse incident between students every night, and eventually the victims left Seodang. The Changwon District Prosecutor’s Office, Jinju Section, prosecuted two perpetrators in December last year on charges of violating the Child and Adolescent Sexual Protection Act. Last month, an incident of gang violence occurred at a Seodang in Hadong, and the School Violence Countermeasures Deliberation Committee of the Hadong-gun Education Bureau issued a written apology, contact bans, community service and suspension. assistance to offenders. Gyeongnam Provincial Superintendent Park Jong-hoon said: “Seodang is a group training facility in its form, but in terms of its content, it acts like a school. However, it is poorly packaged as the character education and mental education of a child. “We will have to change our perception of Seodang and eliminate distorted packaging.” An official from the Gyeongnam Police Agency, which is in charge of the police investigation, also said: “We must stop the business that abused Seodang’s good image. I think we should try to solve the problem fundamentally by reviewing the related laws. “By Choi Sang-won, Staff Reporter [email protected]